Go for it!! I understand that teams are stretched and sometimes you don’t feel like you have the time to complete the process. Everyone involved was quick to help and support.
In Scotland? Learn more about FFL Scotland here.
In Scotland? Learn more about FFL Scotland here.
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16 July 2024
This month we hear from Andrew Cowan, Senior Operations Manager for Catering at Bury Council, who has spearheaded the council’s work towards providing healthy and sustainable food since 2023.
In just 12 months the council’s catering team have made the huge achievement of becoming a silver certified Food for Life Served Here cater, as well as accomplishing our Green Kitchen Standard certification, a mark of excellence in sustainable kitchen practices. They are using Cool Food Pro to track their impact on reducing food waste and have taken up our offer to run some lunchtime activities in schools to engage pupils.
The whole catering team at Bury Council have been fully engaged and a pleasure to work with. From the school cooks when we’ve visited on-site to the Senior Leadership Team, and of course Andy who has driven the work and showed how Bury Catering are leading the way in school food sustainability.
Tell us a bit about yourself and where you work:
Andrew Cowan – Senior Operations Manager for Catering at Bury Council. I’ve worked in the private sector as a Head Chef for many years and moved to Bury Council during the covid pandemic as an Area Manager. In November 2023 I took on my current role.
What do you love about your role at Bury Council?
Working with people in our community to provide healthy, sustainable meals for the children of our community.
How many meals do you serve per week or weekday:
10,000 meals a day
What was the original motivation for your application to Food for Life Served Here?
We wanted to score benchmark the amazing work we’ve been doing here in Bury.
How did you find the process of gaining the certification?
The process was great. We had a lot of support throughout the process and if I had any questions they were quickly answered.
Are you using new suppliers to help you meet Food for Life Served Here standards? Has meeting the standards had an effect on your suppliers in any way?
We recently procured two new suppliers who were very helpful with helping us gain this certification.
You have upgraded your award to silver recently. What was the reason behind that?
Honestly, I thought we could have went for the Silver Award last year but we wanted to go through the process at Bronze Level so we had something to build from.
Has achieving silver increased your food costs? If so, can you estimate a % and how you’re mitigating that increase?
Our food costs have increased anyway with inflation which was around 15%. We worked with our suppliers to get the best possible price for our products.
What impact has been awarded a Food for Life Served Here Award had on your organisation?
We are now a multi-award-winning service and it’s great to pass this information on to our schools and parents.
Are there any unexpected benefits?
The recognition and being contacted by other schools who are interested in what we are trying to achieve as a service.
Alongside FFLSH you have also achieved GKS. What was your motivation in having both certifications?
Climate change is a wide-reaching issue that touches every aspect of our lives as well as our communities. It is therefore vital that we have a strategy that will take us into the future and enable us to reach our target to be carbon neutral by 2038. In tackling the climate emergency and the range of issues associated with it, there is an opportunity for us to not only improve our environment but also our local communities.
Go for it!! I understand that teams are stretched and sometimes you don’t feel like you have the time to complete the process. Everyone involved was quick to help and support.
